Scene: North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 91, No. 40, Ed. 1 Friday, November 9, 2007 Page: 3 of 11
eleven pages : ill.View a full description of this newspaper.
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MUSICSCENE
Random fact No. 2:
Earth is the only planet not named after a god.
Friday 11.09.2007
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Photo by Andrew McLemore / Staff photographer
Punk-indie trio covers the
basics, rocks to the beat
ByJessica Harp
Intern
The Pleasures of Merely Circulating
is a three-piece band from a small
town called Marfa, Texas, just outside
of El Paso and the band is not what
anyone would expect coming from
that arid area. The band sounds
like they belong in Austin more so
than Marfa.
A distinctive voice, a fast beat and
use of distortion sets them apart
from other bands. This Texas punk-
indie trio is worth listening to when
you just want to have a quick beat to
rock out to.
The Pleasures sound like the White
Stripes, No Doubt and Letters to Cleo
wrapped up into one.
The band is made up of three
members: Jeanne Sinclair, Robert
Halpern and Chris Cessac.
Sinclair's voice sounds like a twist
between Gwen Stefani in her early
days of No Doubt and Kay Ilanley
from Letters to Cleo.
The only thing that is missing
from the band is a horn section, but
the members make up for it with fast
beats and catchy choruses.
The band proves that even though
there are only three people in the
group, as long as you have heart
and believe in the things created,
it can be better than a band with 10
members.
Sinclair said on the band's MySpace
page that her influences are Robert
Johnson and The Slits. Cessac's influ-
ences are Minutemen and Buddy
Holly and Halpern's are The Beatles
and Mahavishnu Orchestra.
The Pleasures of Merely Circulating
also claim on its page to "channel a
line of freakishly high energy flowing
from Bo Diddley to The Stooges,
Husker Du and beyond."
The band proves that all you
need is to get to the basics when
creating music that is enjoyable to
the masses.
They have a punk, SoCal, ska feel
and definitely produces music that
you can tap your feet to.
The Pleasures are the funda-
mentalists of rock. The basics. And
sometimes that is all you need. They
doesn't need fancy pedals or pyro-
technics to prove that it rocks.
The Pleasures of Merely
Circulating will play tonight at Bar
of Soap in Dallas and Saturday at
The Moon in Fort Worth.
[Liner Notes
ByJesseca Bagherpour
Staff Writer
When I heard the New
Pornographers were opening for
Spoon in Dallas, I knew I had to be
there. It was one of two shows the
bands were playing together as their
tours happened to overlap in Texas.
I'd already seen both bands live and
knew I would have a good time. But
The New Pornographers exceededmy
expectations.
The House of Blues, a fairly recent
addition to the Dallas music scene,
was also a pleasant surprise. It was
a good size, about one-and-a-half
times the size of the now-defunct
Gypsy Ballroom and the sound was
incredible.
The venue was packed with the
usual suspects at an independent rock
show-hipsters, nerds, aging hipsters
- but the sound and stage setup were
enough to keep me happy (unlike the
Palladium, which is too large and too
crowded, making it impossible to
breathe or see the band on stage).
I first saw the New Pornographers
in March 2006 when they opened for
Belle and Sebastian at the Granada. I
was blown away and didn't think they
could be any better.
I didn't realize it at the time, but
something was missing from the tour
- Neko Case (who was busy promoting
her solo album). I thought Kathryn
Calder did a fine job of covering Case's
vocals, but nobody does it as well as
Case herself. Having two female vocal-
ists brings the band to a new level and
Ó
Spoon, New Pornographers
stir crowd at House of Blues
MORI EXCITING THAN
A BUCKET FULL 01
HOWLER M0NKIES
and alot cleaner, tastier, and generally more satisfying.
Even the monkies would agree on that.
SWEETWATER
GRIL-L- Br TAVERN
Mind yer belly.
115 S, Elm St. Denton
940-484-2888
I hope the lineup stays the way it is.
The band opened with "All The
Things That Go To Make Heaven
And Earth," which is one of my
favorite tracks from their new album
Challengers. From the beginning, they
were energized and so was the audi-
ence. The instrumentáis were tight
and flawless.
Lights flashed - both colored
lights and a large sign with the band's
name - adding a new, showier visual
element to the performance.
They played a perfect mix of old
favorites andnewmaterial. In partic-
ular, when they played the closing
song "The Bleeding Heart Show"
(from Twin Cinemas), the crowd
erupted with applause. The set left
me with a natural high I didn't want
to lose.
To be honest, I wanted New
Pornographers to play a second
set in place of Spoon's set, but I did
enjoy Spoon. But I have seen Spoon
twice before, at the Gypsy and at the
Granada and to be honest, those
shows were better. The problem: the
set came entirely from the band's last
two albums, Ga Ga Ga and Gimme
Fiction. I prefer their older records.
Also, it was hard to focus on the
show because an audience member
kept requesting "The Way We Get By"
after and during every song. The ulti-
mate irony - the band never played
this beloved tune.
Spoon had a horn section that
played for certain songs and it added
a certain depth and funk. And lead
singer Britt Daniel was charismatic as
always. But the sound of the show was
much heavier and darker than usual.
I prefer their more upbeat tracks.
The band was tight and I like the
new songs better live than on the
album, but New Pornographers were
my favorite performers of the night.
• Fresh Salad Bar
• Fresh Fruit Bar
• Fresh Sushi
• Best Yogurt and Dessert Bar
• Unique H bachi Chicken Freshly
grilled before your eyes
• Cocktail Shrimp Every Night
• Cajun-Style Crawfish (everynight)
• Fresh Half-Shell Oysters (everynight)
Lunch - $6.49 (Children 4-10, $3.59)
Dinner - $8.49 (Children 4-10, $4.59)
a taste of 0k ™ech,nese
TUF nUTFWT ESS CUISINE GOURMET
1 H ti yllllju 1 ** BUFFET
2317 W. University Dr. Suite A1 • Denton
382-8797
Free Delivery ($15 minimum, limited area)
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Scene: North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 91, No. 40, Ed. 1 Friday, November 9, 2007, newspaper, November 9, 2007; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth145516/m1/3/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.